A federal magistrate judge has directed the Justice Department to turn over grand jury materials to former FBI Director James Comey, citing potential government misconduct by the prosecutor who handled the presentation.
Judge William Fitzpatrick said Comey’s due process rights outweigh traditional grand jury secrecy, ordering the disclosures by Monday after identifying what he described as a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps.”
Comey, who has pleaded not guilty to false-statement and obstruction charges tied to 2020 congressional testimony about FBI leaks, is set for trial on Jan. 5. Although Fitzpatrick did not name the prosecutor in his ruling, another federal judge confirmed last week that interim U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan was the only lawyer to present evidence to the grand jury. Fitzpatrick noted that the sole prosecutor made at least two “fundamental misstatements of the law” while answering jurors’ questions.
According to the ruling, one remark implied Comey lacked a Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify at trial, potentially suggesting to jurors that he, not the government, bore the burden of proof. Another comment “clearly suggested” that jurors could assume prosecutors possessed additional, stronger evidence beyond what was in the record. Fitzpatrick also flagged concerns with the indictment itself.
